Thursday, August 31, 2017

When Gilmo is found at the scene of a murder in New York, he is taken in for questioning. He only opens up when his kindly nurse, who understands his affinity for numbers, asks him questions. As a math genius, Gilmo was highly praised in Pyongyang, North Korea. When it’s discovered that his father has become a secret Christian, they are both sent to a political prison camp. While there, he meets and befriends the beautiful Yeong-ae. When she manages to escape, Gilmo decides to escape too in order to find her. Once in the free world, he uses to mathematical gifts to navigate the criminal underworld of East-Asia, a journey he hopes will eventually reunite him with Yeong-ae.

Despite incredibly difficult and dangerous situations, Gilmo finds peace in numbers and symmetry. His young age, Asperger Syndrome, and affinity for math make him an endearing and innocent character, but be aware that he is dealing with the criminal underworld and there are some fairly dark passages. While this novel will probably have a particular appeal to readers who have an affinity for math or East-Asia, neither is required to enjoy the journey this book takes you on. I really enjoyed it and can easily recommend it.

Korea is a country (now countries, North and South) that has a long and fascinating history. Michael Breen has lived and worked in Korea for decades as a writer, consultant, and correspondent for various organizations. His deep knowledge of the area comes from immersion and a lot of research. This book provides a wide overview of how the country has evolved overtime. With sections focused on the history of country (all about rulers, invasions, and the development of ideals that shaped society), how the country has built its wealth to quickly become an economic power, the politics and power struggles, and finally where the nation is headed, this book really delves into what has shaped the country.

This is a very well informed book, and I was pleased with the depth each section went into. I’ve been learning about Korea and Korean culture for quite a while, and this really expanded what I already knew, and helped me understand the culture better. That being said, I don’t think this would be a particularly interesting book for someone who didn’t already have a basic understanding or interest in Korea. For me, this was perfect, but it’s not for everyone.

In 1645, the English Civil War drags on, but another danger lurks in the seemingly quiet countryside – one that will claim the lives of hundreds of women.
Newly widowed and pregnant, Alice leaves London for the house and mercy of her estranged brother, Matthew. Her return home quickly sours; the small Essex town, once quiet and peaceful, is now tense with fear and suspicion. While surprised that witchcraft is the cause of such frenzy, Alice is shocked to find that her brother is leading the hunt. Disturbed by Matthew’s obsession, Alice tries to stop him, only to realize Matthew has already placed her at the center of his plans. What can she do to save the innocent from her brother’s holy wrath?

I loved this book! A tense, simmering historical thriller, this book puts you right in the thick of this hostile period in history. I especially loved the author’s decision to tell this story from a woman’s perspective, as it gives readers an immersive experience given Alice’s relationship to a chief instigator of the witch hunt and since women were his victims. Alice too, is a victim, first of circumstance and then her brother: a vulnerable pregnant widow, having little choice but to gamble on an estranged brother’s goodwill for her survival, only to get herself caught at the crux of political and religious tensions that give free reign to Matthew’s obsessive hunt. With Alice as the narrator, the reader’s suspense is all the more heightened. Alice is almost a surrogate or avatar for the reader; like us, Alice enters the story as an outsider. And while she gains inside information, she mostly relies on rumors to try to understand what is happening. Helpful hint: A map is provided and there are historical notes at the end, but you might want to have Google nearby for quick reference if you’re not familiar with the history of witch hunts and/or the English Civil War. But you don’t need to be a history buff to read this book! Settle down with a hot drink on an overcast, rainy day, and enjoy!

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

A Twist in Time
By Julie McElwain
Pegasus, 2017. 452 pages. Historical Fiction

FBI agent Kendra Donovan's attempts to return to her life in the twenty-first century have failed, and she remains in 1815 England. To make matters worse, there's been a murder in London, and Kendra's confidante Alec has come under suspicion. The murdered Lady Dover's past wasn't quite what she said it was, and Kendra is determined to unravel her story which weaves through many layers of the social strata. But her determination to clear Alec's name brings her to the attention, and consternation, of the dangerous underside of London society.

This most recent installment in the Kendra Donovan series continues to be entertaining and fast-paced, and Kendra is a little more at home in the early 19th century, though she still chafes against the confining mores of the time. Seeing the time period through Kendra's eyes is interesting, if a bit predictable at times, but it's still fun to see her intelligence and strength juxtaposed against a culture that doesn't expect that from her. I'm looking forward to the next installment in the series.

In this sequel to The Girl from Everywhere, sixteen-year-old Nix continues her time traveling adventures through both real and imagined places aboard her father’s ship, The Temptation. Her father has always done the navigation, but Nix has inherited his ability to travel through time, and she has now been given the chance.

While on a quick break in modern day New York to resupply, Nix meets a mysterious young woman who gives her a map of Ys, a mythical island city off the coast of Brittany in France. Along with the map, dated 1637, is a letter from a man named Crowhurst inviting her to visit Ys and claiming the past can indeed be changed. With the desire to right the wrongs that happened in the previous book and possibly save Kasmir from his prophesied fate and whom Nix has developed feelings for, the crew heads off to Ys.

While I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first, I am still looking forward to the next installment. This book is highly recommended for readers looking for strong female characters. Nix is flawed, being driven by her heart. Yet she uses her wits to solve the problems around her which I always appreciate in the characters I read about.

In a slightly alternate version of our own modern day, people are demanding ever faster and better connections. Briddey Flanagan, who is constantly besieged by her “no boundaries” Irish-American family, works for Commspan, a cell phone company out to beat Apple by coming up with the next great product. Shortly after her seemingly perfect boyfriend and coworker, Trent, proposes, Briddey undergoes a procedure to become empathically connected to Trent. However, things go comically awry when she ends up connected to the wrong guy, instead connecting to C.B. Schwartz, the eccentric techie who works in Commspan’s basement.

Willis juxtaposes a hilarious girl-finally-finds-right-boy story alongside razor sharp commentary on everything from corporate espionage and helicopter parenting to superficial connections versus true intimacy. While I enjoyed many aspects of this book, it wasn’t a total hit for me. I found Briddey’s utter refusal to believe what was happening to her very grating. I think there could have been a better way to keep the pacing of the story than to fall back on this trope.

Monday, August 28, 2017

Anna is a werewolf who was changed against her will. She has recently joined the Marrocks pack as the mate to Charles Cornick the pack’s law enforcer. Recently saved from her original brutal pack, Anna moves to Charles’ home in Montana and soon must confront a witch as she threatens the safety of the werewolves.

I really love this series. For this particular series I think it is very important to read the novella that comes before this book in the timeline “ Alpha and Omega”. I enjoy not only the relationship between Anna and Charles but also I love the dimension this book gives to some of the side characters such as Asil and Bran. Some of these characters are mentioned only in passing in the Mercy Thompson series, it is so much fun how Patricia Briggs gives them new life in this series.

Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale is one of the earliest and most influential dystopian novels of our time. The story centers on Offred, a woman living in the newly formed region of Gilead (formerly the American Northeast). Due to low fertility rates in the US, women have been stripped of their freedoms, and forced into specific roles to increase the birth rate. Offred is a Handmaid—a woman whose sole purpose is to bear children to prominent men.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a disturbing look into a possible not-to-distant future, and is relevant to our modern day. The fictitious Republic of Gilead uses strict Christian/Puritan theology to justify the removal of personal identities and the reordering of society. Women are banned from reading and writing, relationships are strictly controlled through the government, and any dissenters are publicly executed. Reminiscent of both The Scarlet Letter and 1984, The Handmaid’s Tale is sure to provoke strong emotions in readers.

The
Berlin Wall fell nearly 30 years ago. Many
have forgotten the price people paid to cross that barrier between East and West
Berlin. Before it was
built in 1961 Berliners traveled from east to west for daily jobs, school, to visit
families – and to flee to the West. Once the infamous barrier was built a
person’s life was forfeit for trying to cross it. Yet thousands and thousands defied the East
German government, crossing the barrier by balloon, jumping from windows across
the barrier into firemen’s nets in the west, using fake papers, and escaping
via underground tunnels joining East Berlin and West Berlin.

In 1961 no
one was sure whether western pressure against the Russians and East Germans because
of the wall might escalate to war. JFK was already embroiled in the Cuban
missile crisis and famously said, “A wall is better than a war.” This
compelling book gives accounts of several tunnel projects that were successful
routes for escaping East Germans. The author also fills in the details about
the political tensions of the time which could easily have flared into war. SH

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Shedding more light on less familiar aspects of World War II, The Fire By Night paints an unflinching portrait of the brave American women who served as nurses on the front lines of World War II.

Jo finds herself abandoned with a handful of seriously injured patients, near the German lines. With few supplies and no support from nearby American troops she is pushed to a breaking point just fighting to keep her soldiers alive. Jo’s close friend from nursing school, Kay is on the other side of the world. Her service takes her to a terrifying POW camp in Manila which she is determined to survive.

Like The Women in the Castle, The Fire by Night tells of the strength of women. Often unaware of their own resilience until they are truly tested, they have the potential to stare down true evil and utter hopelessness. Their stories are sometimes left untold but are represented beautifully in these recent works of historical fiction.

Marianne was widowed in 1944 when her husband was executed for taking part in the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler. As the war winds down she battles the chaos of her crumbling homeland to find the wives and children of fellow resisters.

She rescues them from refugee camps, Nazi reeducation homes, and from the hands of the occupying Red Army soldiers. Those she is able to find, she brings to an old family castle and creates a makeshift family. Each rescued woman has her own story of loss and perseverance and each has their own secrets to keep and dreams to pull from the rubble left after years of war.

This is a wonderfully rich story of the strength of the soul and terrors of war. Each character was a survivor and a hero though their pasts were messy and their choices questionable. What would you do to keep what was left of your family alive when everything you loved has been destroyed? The Women in the Castle touched my heart and brought new light to an often forgotten outcome of World War II.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Having
shown his gifts as a poet while still a teenager, Jang was given a job in North
Korea’s United Front Department, the government section responsible for
inter-Korean espionage. Honored by being invited to meet Kim Jong-il because of
his poetry, he becomes one of the “Admitted,” making him virtually immune to
punishment for any infraction without approval from the “Great Leader” himself. In his work he was allowed to read and study
books, newspapers and magazines from South Korea so that he could write
propaganda as though it had been written in South Korea. Gradually Jang becomes
disillusioned with the government of North Korea. Having lived his whole life
in Pyongyang, he is horrified when he visits a friend in the countryside and
sees the starvation and poverty of ordinary North Koreans. When he violates the
rules of his job and loans a restricted book to a friend he suddenly finds
himself being investigated by his unit.
Knowing that it is only a matter of time before he is arrested, he and
his friend cross the Tumen River into China.

This
memoir is far different from other recent books about refugees from North Korea
because the author is so familiar with the propaganda tools and techniques of
the North Korean government. He was an
insider who experienced the privileged lifestyle of the elites close to Kim
Jong-il. He is also a gifted writer, and currently the editor of a website that
reports on North Korea. I highly recommend this memoir to those who are
interested in North Korea.

Cassie is the youngest of six sisters. Her parents have made a rule that she can't be out in society until her older sister makes a match. The problem is that Lenora in in her third season and is so painfully shy that she shows no signs of even being able to talk to a man. When Lenora shows a slight interest in Evan Glenside, who recently became heir of a nearby estate, Cassie decides to take matters into her own hands. She begins to write letters to Mr. Glenside in Lenora's name. Her good intentions become complicated when she finds herself starting to fall in love with Evan. It becomes even worse when he starts to court Lenora, thinking she is the one whose personality he admires from the letters.

I wasn't sure how this book was going to turn out. Cassie, Evan and Lenora were all such great characters and part way through the book I realized that this couldn't turn out well for everyone involved. I liked that this book was a little messy and very realistic about what happened once all the secrets were revealed. Too many romance books wrap things up too nicely. This book still had a very satisfying ending and I liked how it got there. This is another great Proper Romance for those looking for a good, clean romantic story.

Friday, August 11, 2017

Nalia, a young jinni of a powerful and ancient ruling class, is the sole survivor of a violent coup in her homeland of Arjinna. Surviving as a slave on the Dark Caravan, she must obey every command of her master, Malek, until he makes three wishes. However Malek believes he is in love with Nalia and will never make his third wish. Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of the rebellion. War against the new rulers of Arjinna is not going well and he believes Nalia can make the difference. Raif can break the slave bond magic, but freeing Nalia from Malek proves to be more difficult that either she or Raif had imagined.

I loved this story! The writing is good, and the story is complex and engaging. The characters have depth and faults, and experience a realistic range of emotions. I especially like the emotional maturity displayed by Nalia. Even though she is haunted by past actions that proved to have severe consequences, she still demonstrates strength in dealing with the problems of the present. I also appreciated how the magic was set up. The jinn use element-related magic that varies in strength depending on the race of the jinni, and wishes have binding qualities that aren’t fully understood by most. I would recommend this book to someone interested in a complex story, or a book with magic in a modern setting.

In 1945, in a now-famous piece of archival footage, four-year-old Michael Bornstein was filmed by Soviet soldiers as he was carried out of Auschwitz in his grandmother's arms. Survivors Club tells the story of how a father's courageous wit, a mother's fierce love, and one perfectly timed illness saved Michael's life, and how others in his family from Zarki, Poland, dodged death at the hands of the Nazis time and again with incredible deftness.

This incredible true story is a must read for anyone interested in World War II. Told from the point of view of Michael Bornstein, who was too young to remember the early years of Germany’s occupation of Poland, much of the story is really told as the result of research and interviews with relatives and survivors who knew the family. However, the number of amazing things that had to line up in order to allow such a young boy to survive in a Polish ghetto, and finally in a Nazi concentration camp, is staggering. This story is one that belongs alongside such classics as Corrie Ten Boom’s The Hiding Place and Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl.

Monday, August 7, 2017

This cheerful romance is the typical romance where opposites attract, mixed with a generous helping of family drama. Zoe Costas is an independent Greek New Jersey girl who doesn’t take nonsense from anyone. Her large family is hoping to formally adopt their foster daughter Sam, until Sam's long-lost uncle randomly shows up. Ryan Baldwin is a handsome straight-laced lawyer from Boston, who is the opposite of everything Zoe would ever imagine in a suitor. As sparks fly, the two discover the real reasons why Sam’s mother ran away and in the process heal two very different families.

This is a fun, happy-ending and fairly predictable beach read. I liked the two polar opposite families and seeing how the romance develops despite differences. The teenage foster daughter’s temper tantrums got on my nerves but Zoe and Ryan’s relationship is entertaining and loveable.

Sixty-nine-year-old Arthur Pepper lives a simple life. He gets out of bed at precisely 7:30 a.m., just as he did when his wife, Miriam, was alive. He dresses in the same gray slacks and mustard sweater vest, waters his fern, Frederica, and heads out to his garden. But on the one-year anniversary of Miriam's death, Arthur finds an exquisite gold charm bracelet he's never seen before. What follows is a surprising and unforgettable odyssey that takes Arthur from London to Paris and as far as India in an epic quest to find out the truth about his wife's secret life before they met--a journey that leads him to find hope, healing, and self-discovery in the most unexpected places.

Arthur Pepper is surprisingly willing to go with the flow. The more he finds out about his wife’s life before she met him, the stranger things get. Yet Arthur embraces it all with surprising acceptance even when he finds himself in unusual situations. He’s less curmudgeonly than Fredrik Backman’s beloved Ove, but he finds himself surrounded by characters who are even more interesting. Fans of books about people who go through unlikely transformations (like A Man Called Ove, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, or Etta and Otto and Russell and James) will love this book.

The subtitle perfectly summarizes this book, "a memoir of addiction, destruction, love, parenting, survival, and hope." Tracy weaves the story of her friendship, marriage, and later divorce to her husband David. The book is written with flashbacks and portions of her blog to tell her experience as a single mom, living in near poverty, and raising her children one of whom is on the Autism Spectrum. While David's decisions had a vast influence on not only her life, but her children's as well, Tracy doesn't bash him at all. She shows his humanity and his wonderful qualities and how addiction impacted their family.

Tracy writes with hope and love amidst some truly difficult situations. I've read Tracy's blog, Dandelion Mama, for years and while I was familiar with her story, this memoir was incredibly interesting to read. I was brought to tears several times reading about not only the hardships she faced, but also the many good people who helped her during her trials.

Vaccines save countless lives every year by preventing a multitude of dangerous diseases. In The Vaccine Controversy, Dr. Kurt Link explores the history and use of both the common and uncommon vaccines used in the United States and other parts of the world. The book begins with explanations of how the immune system works, how the different types of vaccines are made, and how vaccines trigger an immune response. He then discusses several disasters and near misses in the history of vaccines. A significant portion of the book takes an in-depth look at each vaccine and the disease it prevents. This book maintains relevancy despite the publishing date because much of the information is historical and the effects of the disease stay relatively the same over time.

This book was fascinating! I really liked how the author presented rather complex medical information in a way that was easy for someone without a medical background to understand. The second thing I appreciated most about this book was the depth with which it examined each disease. A study of the disease is a vital part of any research on vaccines, and this book did a wonderful job of keeping those two facets of the subject together. While the author states he is a strong supporter of vaccination programs, he didn’t shy away from the mishaps and disasters that have occurred because of vaccines. He does a good job of keeping an informative tone without inserting lots of opinions. Despite the title, the controversies surrounding vaccinations were only lightly discussed. This book could use an updated edition, but overall I found it to be highly informative, and would recommend it to anyone looking to expand their understanding of vaccines and the diseases they are meant to prevent.

Shauna wrote five books in nine years and has spent considerable time on the road promoting those books and speaking to audiences of various sizes. As she started to realize the toll this schedule was taking on herself and her family, Shauna knew that something needed to change. In this book she writes essays on how she is making changes for the better and how these changes are not always quick or easy.

I really enjoy Shauna's writing and have read several of her other books. These essays gave me a lot to think about and consider how I can make changes in my own life. In particular, I loved the essays entitled You Put Up the Chairs, On Stillness, and Heart and Yes. I'd recommend this book to anyone who's looking for ways to find a little more peace in their crazy schedules.

Thursday, August 3, 2017

Starla Claudelle has run away from life with her overly strict grandmother and plans to make her way to her mother whom she hasn’t seen since she was three. But the road from Cayuga Springs, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee is not easy for a nine-year-old, and Starla soon meets more trouble than she bargained for. On the road Starla meets Eula, a black woman traveling with a white baby. Together, Starla and Eula learn a new meaning of friendship and family as they look out for one another on Starla’s journey.

Though this story deals with difficult topics such as abuse, racial inequality, teen pregnancy, and abandonment, the details are toned down due to Starla’s nine-year-old perspective. What really resonates with me is how the story illustrates the transformative power of love in someone’s life. Readers will enjoy Starla’s spit-fire attitude as well as her endearing deep south vernacular. This is a great pick for book club discussions and is now available as a book club set at the library.

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